Flanking

Flanking is the maneuver in which one team surrounds the other team
on two or more sides, reducing escape options, and increasing the need
to defend from multiple directions simultaneously. Being caught in the
cross fire of a flanking maneuver seriously impacts a player’s ability
to defend themselves, and typically offers only the ability to push
forward or drop back the way they came – neither of which are good
choices.

While terrain and Geometry can play a role in promoting or enabling
flanking, it can also play a role in reducing or eliminating flanking.
For example, cliffs, walls, and other obstacles to both movement and
cross fire can help one team eliminate possibilities of being flanked by
anchoring their battle line to those obstacles. While this serves to
reduce their exposure to attack from multiple directions, it also
reduces their escape options.

If using terrain or Geometry to limit flanking options for a given
Space, then you should consider adding features to increase other risks
to balance its usefulness and playability. For example, Powerhouse has
an open field bounded by walls and cliffs on three sides. The field is
not typically used in games where a player can be threatened by cross
map fire even though flanking is practically impossible to establish
(the team in the field has only one direction to defend from). The
openness of the field balances the benefits of no possibility of being
flanked. However, in games where cross map fire is not possible, such as
Living Dead, the risk drops away and what we see is that the Space is
overly used and abused by the humans.

Flanking is something that you as a forger should include in any map,
but keep in mind that the more players you have on a team the more
interest there will be to perform flanking maneuvers. Flanking promotes
team work, and as such increases in frequency and interest with
increasing team size.

Basics of Flanking

Take the typical case of three major Paths across the map, from
either team’s perspective they will have the choice of Paths to the
left, the center, and the right. Generally it is a good idea to allow
the center to be flanked by the right or the left sides of the map or
the other way around, but to limit cross map fire between the left and
right Paths.

With a Path along the right edge of a map, some additional Paths
between the right and center Paths allow a team to flank an offensive
push that occurs in the center. The offensive team can have a variety of
responses, such as clear out the edge Paths to make the central Path
safe; rush the central Path and hope that they make it to the other end
alive; bait the flankers and keep them busy while their teammates
progress along the other side of the map; and so forth. These options
are dependent upon the Geometry and terrain of your map, but typically
do not diminish the importance or effectiveness of flanking to slow or
repel an offensive push.

Paths Of Flanking

The Paths that connect major cross map Paths can be contiguous.
Ragnarok and Abandon are two good examples where much of the edge routes
can see the center from just about any point. The only thing blocking
the LOS are the rocks and trees that form immediate cover, but they do
not represent lengthy walls that break up the flanking Paths.

Other maps may have two parallel Paths with discrete connections
between them. A good example of this is found in both the upper and
lower levels of Adrift. The walls break up the opportunities to flank
and can form corridors or tunnels with little ease of escapes.

Consider how much flanking you want your map to offer and why? The
amount of cover between two Paths and the distance between openings will
dictate how many points of movement allow for flanking.

Flank Spawning

What I call Flank Spawning is the act of spawning in such a way that
you could immediately initiate flanking maneuvers. In most cases
spawning along a flanking Path is not a concern. For most Game Types, if
a player spawns along a flanking Path it is because that is the safest
place to spawn on the map, presumably because it is the furthest
location from any enemy. Assuming that is correct, spawning along the
flanking Path doesn’t offer an immediate flanking opportunity. Another
way of saying this is that if a team is moving along the center Path
(for example) then flank spawning should not occur due to their
presence.

On the other hand, some Game Types, such as Halo Reach’s Invasion,
define discrete spawn areas that are influenced by the spawning player
rather than the presence or absence of enemy players. Invasion’s major
Paths are so well defined that flank spawning would become a severe
problem. Typically the invaders don’t have – and should not be forced
into – other Paths to avoid flank spawning, but the Paths they have
available to them become essential Paths. Their objectives are defined in very large part by these essential Paths, which are designed specifically to guide
the invaders using intuitive level design strategies. In cases where an
offensive push requires an essential Path, flank spawning must
be prevented. In the case of Invasion, the way to solve this problem is
to simply spawn behind the objective rather than off to the side of the
objective.

While new game types may be unforeseeable at the time I write this, the principle will remain the same.

Summary

Adjacent Paths should offer flanking with each other; cross map shooting should be minimized.

Typically flanking is contiguous with LOS blockers, but there can be
cases where flanking Paths between Paths are limited, discrete, and far
apart.

Flank spawning is okay if the Path that winds up being flanked is not
an essential Path and the occurrence of the spawning is atypical.